


Peanut Butter and Jam

by Waywardwiz



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: Anal Sex, I love my boys, I'm aiming to be AO3's main supplier of Ted/Barney stuff, M/M, Oral Sex, also, unforeseen attachment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 09:06:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14209821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywardwiz/pseuds/Waywardwiz
Summary: Set during/after "How I Met Everyone Else" (S03E05). Ted goes home with the strange man he met at the urinal."“Fuck, Barney” Ted grinds out through his teeth as he bucks his hips forward, pushing himself forcefully against that wiry, inappropriate, gorgeous creature that is clutching at him, hanging onto him so tightly, like a... like a... Damn, metaphors are hard, all of a sudden. Fancy words and purple prose have always been Ted’s forte, spinning vivid tales of love and fate and destiny, but now, at this moment, he comes up short and then realizes that maybe things don’t always have to compare to something rhapsodic. And just like that Barney licks and bites his way into Ted’s mouth and Ted thinks that oh, they definitely don’t. There is nothing like this."





	Peanut Butter and Jam

Ted did not expect his Friday night to go like this. It had been normal, even a little boring, but then he had gone to Maclaren’s urinal and there was this blonde guy, this crazy stick-figure of a person who prattled on about deaf siblings and dead parents while whipping his dick out, and his eyes were liquid pools of blue in the dull light, ethereally bright, and his name was Barney, and –  
“Fuck, Barney” Ted grinds out through his teeth as he bucks his hips forward, pushing himself forcefully against that wiry, inappropriate, gorgeous creature that is clutching at him, hanging onto him so tightly, like a... like a... Damn, metaphors are hard, all of a sudden. Fancy words and purple prose have always been Ted’s forte, spinning vivid tales of love and fate and destiny, but now, at this moment, he comes up short and then realizes that maybe things don’t always have to compare to something rhapsodic. And just like that Barney licks and bites his way into Ted’s mouth and Ted thinks that _oh, they definitely don’t._ There is nothing like this.

They are in his apartment. He barely remembers dragging Barney up here by the arm, hand like a vice around the other man’s wrist. Barely remembers Barney tumbling through the door with him in a graceless heap, his breathless laughter a pleasant echo resonating on the insides of Ted’s skull. Barely remembers pushing this man – this stunning, strange man – against a wall and covering his slender figure with his own, swallowing the little exhale of air from Barney as their bodies make contact.  
But here they are, and as Barney drapes both arms around Ted’s neck, pulling himself up on his toes and laying kiss after kiss after kiss onto the heated skin of Ted’s throat, Ted has never felt more present. He puts his hands on Barney’s cheeks, cradling his face between his fingers. He feels the blonde’s jaw working beneath his fingertips as he mouths at the spot just above Ted’s pulse; hears his own blood surging in his ears, tastes the little sounds spilling from between Barney’s lips. They taste sweet, like good things Ted wants to hide away in the corner of his mouth, to hold on to and savor whenever he feels like it remembering this guy.

He gasps and tugs sharply at fair hair when Barney closes his teeth firmly around his skin and then swipes his tongue soothingly over the tender bruise that is quickly forming, licking at him in broad strokes.   
“Jesus” Ted sputters, letting go of Barney’s head with one hand to instead tug him closer with an insistent pull at the front of his shirt; messing up the pristine lines of the textile gives him an immense form of satisfaction – he wants to wreck Barney, make him a devastation of bliss and torturous euphoria... (Oh! His words are back).  
Barney chuckles, the sounds carried along on soft sighs, and croons, “naw, just me”  
“There’s nothing – ah!” Ted ‘s words fail when Barney’s long hands slip down his back, finding their home on the curve of his ass, petting and squeezing, “there’s nothing “just” about you, who the – fuck, you’re...”  
He takes a second to properly look at Barney; his pupils are blown below hooded eyelids, completely swallowing up the ring of blue around the irises. His hair and skin glow, like they are lit from within by a soft, flickering ember (Ted’s kinda sorta drunk), in the light streaming through the window from the streetlamp outside the building, “you’re – ouch, are your teeth fangs? – you’re shining, like gold or some shit, how is that even possible?”  
“Man, you’re chatty” Barney observes, but Ted feels the curl of a smile against his chin and a not-so-subtle press of Barney’s cock against his thigh, and he knows that Barney doesn’t mind his blabbering in the slightest, “what does it take to shut you up?”

“It’s impossible” Ted says, relishing at the hushed moan slipping through Barney’s lips as he sneaks a hand past the folds of his shirt and pinches a pointed nipple between his fingertips, pitching Barney into a full-body shiver, “it’s a medical condition, I’m the real victim here”.   
“Well, in that case...” Barney muses, tipping his head to the side, pretending to be in deep thought about Ted’s predicament. Then a lazy, rapacious grin flashes across his face, teeth flashing ( _wow_ Ted thinks, _hot_ ), “If that’s what floats your boat you can keep talking about how perfect I am while I fuck you. How’s that sound?”  
Now it’s Ted’s turn to tremble, and he does so all over, a shudder of anticipation in the marrow of his bones, a song in his blood and a quivering line of tension in his muscles. He manages a, “yeah, that’s, I’d like that”. His voice is a husky, strung-out, embarrassing thing – he is almost panting – and it is so clear that he is starving for it. His hunger is reflected in Barney’s eyes; the blonde looks like he wants to devour Ted whole. Ted has always been big on remembering the difference between “literally” and “figuratively”, and somewhere in rational part of his brain - the one that is almost completely hidden away behind a haze of lust - he knows that Barney won’t get out utensils and start cutting him into little pieces to eat him with béarnaise on top. But by God, “figuratively” doesn’t quite seem to cut it.

He starts working at the buttons of Barney’s shirt, pulling at them urgently with fingers that eagerness has made clumsy, desperate to uncover the body beneath. He draws in a pained breath when he tugs off the offending piece of garment, Barney assisting him as best he can, and gets his first look at what’s underneath. Barney’s pale chest is flushed a lovely pink. He is lean all over with a hint of muscles beneath his smooth skin, and where his torso tapers into his waist a teasing trail of blonde hair cuts a straight line, catching Ted’s eyes before disappearing behind the hemline of Barney’s pants. Ted nearly starts salivating at the sight.  
He himself is a bundle of nerves, his body taut and buzzing like a livewire. Wherever Barney touches him Ted’s skin flares to brilliant life, bursts into vivid animation, and he is dunked under water, is blown into a higher altitude - whatever, the blonde takes away his breath, kills him a little with every kiss, Ted should be allowed to concoct crazy metaphors for how much he needs this, needs _Barney_ – and, and...  
The shirt drops to the floor in a flutter of white fabric. One of the sleeves brushes against Ted’s leg during its descent, and his skin dissolves into goosebumps. He takes in the sight of the shirt, completely transfixed, before coming back to himself and promptly dropping down so that he is on his knees in front of Barney. A shaky exhale of surprise sweetens the air between them, rustles his hair, tickles his scalp, and then Barney’s hands are on his face, palms clasped gently around the back of his skull. His thumb strokes Ted’s cheekbone, and his voice is pure desire when he says, “please”  
Ted’s chest clenches tight, and he nods. With no further ado he reaches for Barney’s belt, briskly unfastening the buckle and pulling down the zipper, and then leans back so as to better enjoy the image of Barney’s toned legs as they are revealed to him.

Barney shuffles out of the pants bunched around his ankles and end up kicking Ted’s shin by accident. He laughs hoarsely when Ted yelps in pain, “sorry, you alright?”  
Ted grabs Barney’s hips and leans in to press a kiss to his abdomen before skimming his tongue across the skin there. He delights in the amazed little sound from above him as he pokes the tip into the hollow of Barney’s navel.   
“You know – “he says, inclining his head slightly so that he is looking up at Barney’s face, “you seemed more suave in the bar”   
Barney’s cheeks are flushed and his lips draw back over teeth bared in a small snarl. He winds his fingers into Ted’s hair and pulls at it roughly, bordering on painful – Ted loves it – as he growls, eyes dark and smoldering, “is that what you want?”  
“Maybe later” Ted says, shifting most of his attention to the bulge tenting the front of Barney’s briefs, and puts his hands on the other man’s powerful tights, narrowing his grip around the strong tendons jumping beneath subtle skin. Heat rushes to his groin and he groans harshly, “I’m good”. He then hooks his fingers in the elastic of Barney’s briefs, pulling them down, and bows down to take him in between his lips, moaning around the delicious friction as he slips inside. Barney fills out every nook and cranny of his mouth, warm, solid, hard, _perfect_. As Ted’s tongue tests this new territory, experiencing – because it _is_ an experience, sort of a revelation – every vein, every silky-rough oxymoron, he drinks Barney’s little sighs and whimpers in through his pores, feasting on them, letting them nourish him.

”You taste so good” he says, nose buried in the soft tufts of blond hair at the base of the other man’s dick, tight little curls tickling his nostrils. He slobbers on Barney’s length, saliva gathering under his tongue, and Barney, now reduced to a whimpering mess, bucks his hips forward into Ted’s face and _God_. Ted’s instincts are at war with each other; a part of him wants to be taken by Barney against the wall, fast and wild and filthy, the other to take him to the bedroom, make it slow and agonizingly gentle. He wants Barney to _own_ him, to fuck him and mark him and leave scorching, sinewy handprints on his insides – his mind, his heart (what, why?), his bones, spine – he is spiralling, he realizes that, and manages to get a hold on himself, gather his own flighty wits about him. But fact is, he wants Barney in him, wants to be dominated by him. So he lets Barney take the lead; and Barney does, sealing Ted’s mouth with his cock, thrusting in a little further with every snap of his hips. Ted breathes through his nose as Barney fucks lazily into the hollow of his cheeks, his endearments a rasping whisper against the shell of Ted’s ears, “your lips look so amazing wrapped around my cock, God – “

Ted gasps sharply at the feeling of Barney going down his throat, and his lungs heave for air as he attempts to bypass his gag-reflex.   
“Barney – “ he moans, slurred, the name tasting of cinders and yearning, saccharine sweet against his teeth. That’s all he can manage to say before Barney picks up the pace, driving every rational thought out of his head. Ted is riding high on his own arousal; his cock is straining against the insides of his jeans, painfully, maddeningly hard, and he needs to touch himself or he will surely shatter into a million little depraved pieces. But when he grabbles for the fly of his jeans, desperate to get his hand on his throbbing member, Barney’s gruff command stops him dead in his track, “don’t. I want to make you come”

Ted whimpers in frustration, but complies with the order. Instead he closes his hand around the base of Barney’s member, using his fingers to cover the part of it he can’t reach with his mouth. He goes slow, steady, easy, countering Barney’s movement, and Barney almost chokes on an exhale. His breathing is shallow, erratic, and his hold is vice-like in Ted’s hair. Ted is on cloud nine – unless there are any higher clouds, then he’s on one of those –, body working on autopilot, mind hazy with lust, as he jacks Barney off, powering through the slight soreness that has taking hold of his jaw. He glances up and sees Barney studying him with hooded eyes. The blonde makes a strangled sound as Ted hums around him, hand working with more enthusiasm than before, and says, voice low and rich, a smooth line of pure sin, “you’re really into this, fuck, you’re so pretty, I could - ”   
His sentence breaks in half as Ted licks at the underside of his cock. His lithe frame shudders and his fists tighten against Ted’s cheeks as he throws his head back, “stop, I’m going to – “

Picking up on the needy timbre in Barney’s voice Ted leans back, letting the blonde’s cock slip from his mouth with a soft “pop”. He hears Barney draw in a stuttering breath as he tries to ground himself. He stands up so that his eyes are level with Barney’s, and smiles lopsidedly. He is near enough that he can feel Barney’s warm breath fanning across his nose and cheekbones. Ted’s eyes flicker down to the other man’s mouth; his lips are glossy and kiss-red, lightly parted, plump and delicate, _hypnotic_. Some other time Ted wants them on his dick, but right now he has something entirely else in mind. He kisses Barney, a quick brush of lips against lips, tongue against tongue, and then tilts his head so he can whisper seductively into his ear, “you said something about fucking me?”  
Barney catches his face between his long fingers, holding him still, and goes in for another kiss, a deep one, a kiss that makes Ted’s toes curl and his legs wobble like jelly. Barney digs his front teeth into Ted’s bottom lip, applying just enough pressure for it to be on the right side of pleasant, but absolutely toing the line of being painful. Ted steps back, dragging in breath after staggering breath in a futile attempt to regain some resemblance of control, but his head is spinning and his body is _on fire,_ need, want, roaring, crashing, consuming –

The man in front of him runs his fingers up along the bow of Ted’s neck, a movement that sends shivers down his spine, eyes falling shut for the briefest of moments, before he draws Ted what feels like impossibly close by the nape of his neck, close enough to be able to whisper into his mouth, “bedroom”.  
Ted almost stumbles over a potted plant – why the fuck does Lily insist on “bringing some colour into the apartment”? - in his haste to get them where they need to be. Barney is of no help whatsoever, seemingly caught between wanting to get to Ted’s room as fast as possible and meticulously licking, sucking and biting his way into the centre of Ted like some sort of human lollipop. They almost take an accidental tumble to the floor when their ankles cross, before Barney somehow manages to save them by catching both him and Ted against the back of the couch (wow, that’s some dexterity Ted cannot wait to get closer acquainted with). Ted looks down to see Barney’s fingers clamped unto the piece of furniture, absorbedly studying the way his skin has turned white with the strain of holding almost all of Ted’s entire weight hoisted into an upright position. Ted gasps intelligently, “you’re strong!”

Barney grinds out through his teeth, “Pilates” and then laughs, blue eyes sparking with amusement. Ted does, too, before finally being helpful and standing by himself. It occurs to him that this must be the most small-talk he has ever exchanged with a one-night stand. He kinda likes it. He also likes the way Barney’s arm wraps itself around his neck, the way he starts unbuttoning his shirt with nimble fingers – Barney might just be jump-starting a hand-fetish in Ted, he will have to examine that later -, the easy smile on his lips and in his eyes, the quiet sound of his footfall on the floor, his firecracker kisses - and then the back of Ted’s knees meet with the side of his madras. He lies down without being urged to, and then reaches for Barney with both arms, bending and un-bending his fingers in needy grabby motions. Barney lets out a chuckle, small crowfeet crinkling at the corners of his beautiful – _beautiful_ – eyes, and stoops down to kiss him, an elusive little thing that leaves Ted’s mind soft with longing for the brief seconds it takes Barney to ask, “can I take off your – “  
“Yes” he interrupts in a rush of impatience, voice hoarse and cracking, “absolutely”.  
Barney stands over Ted in all his naked glory and quickly tugs off first Ted shoes, then his pants and boxerbriefs, before gathering the fabric of Ted’s shirt in his hands and reverently following its’ descent down the lines of Ted’s arms.  His fingertips brush against Ted’s sensitive skin as he lays him bare, and Ted whimpers and twitches against the sheet, his face flushed and his eyes glazed. A soft scrape of nails against his left nipple, a press of lips to the sensitive spot just below his ear, and Ted is arching his back off the bed, hips trusting against Barney’s. When Barney takes him in hand and starts slowly pumping him Ted feels it like a suckerpunch to his gut.

“God -, please” he hisses, balancing on his elbows so he can reach Barney’s mouth with his own, slotting their lips together messily, before tilting his head a little so that he can run his tongue briefly along the line of Barney’s clavicle. He falls into the covers and beckons Barney with him, hand clasped insistently on the back of the blonde’s neck. Barney indulges him and soon they are a tangle of sweaty limps and exploring fingertips, and Ted’s mind is working slow and sluggishly, because Barney’s hand is still on his dick and it just, it feels _really fucking good_. He doesn’t want to come from this, though. He would much rather -   
“Where’s your stuff?”  
“Hva’” Ted says, looking at Barney unintelligently. The slow flicks of Barney’s wrist are making it hard for him to properly process information, “my stuff?”  
“Condoms? Lube? I’m not super into entering dry” Barney elaborates, sounding kind of winded.   
“Oh. Oh! Yeah, they’re – “ Ted flaps his arm in the general direction of his dresser, and Barney crawls off the bed, leaving Ted’s poor cock abandoned and hilariously bobbing like a weird, straining flagpole (elaborate thought is very much out of Ted’s reach by now). Barney finds what he is looking for, but doesn’t get back into bed. Ted looks up to see Barney watching him, eyes dark, expression raw, and Ted can’t help squirming under that intense form of scrutiny.

Then Barney says, more a request than an actual command, “hands and knees”  
Ted obeys instantly, scrambling into a kneeling position. His eyes slip shut as he tries to even out his hectic breathing. His length is hanging heavy and painfully hard between his thighs. A few long, torturous seconds pass by, and then Barney puts his hands on him and it is heaven. A single long finger makes a straight pathway down the length of his spine, only to be joined by more when it reaches his tailbone, and then both of Barney’s slender hands splay across the globes of Ted’s ass. He pets and squeezes and takes his sweet time, until finally he focuses his attention elsewhere. When he finds what he is looking for he presses the pad of his thumb against Ted’s hole. Ted’s body jerks at the contact, and his lips part around a stuttering moan, as Barney’s finger traces circle around the small pucker of nerves, “come on, I – ah!”  
There is a thread of easy amusement in Barney’s voice as he asks, “you what?”  
“I want… “ he isn’t usually this tongue-tied during sex – it must be something about the man behind him, something that makes a flush rise high in his cheek and takes away his eloquence, “fingers, I want your fingers”

Barney takes pity on him and stops his teasing. Ted hears him flip the lid of the tube, and then Barney’s hands are back on him, searching, prodding, seeking entrance. And then Ted feels it. A cold, firm, thrilling pressure against him. He tries to force himself to relax, but it is hard to do so, and he finds his body tensing with anticipation. Barney’s finger is moving against him slowly, applying pressure and taking it away, repeating the movement with a little more force at each impact, until Ted’s hole starts to give and Barney’s finger slides inside to the first knuckle. A few more thrusts and the digit is embedded in Ted’s ass; Ted’s clenches tightly around it, a long moan tearing itself from his throat. His arms can’t hold up anymore and he folds them so that he is instead resting on his elbows, burying his face against his lower arm. Then Barney, holding on to Ted with a strong grip on his waist, works his entire finger, and then the one next to it, inside him, and Ted groans at the erotic sound of the wet slide as the finger re-enters him time and again, until he is a soft and slack and moaning mess beneath him. As a third finger breaches him and Barney leans in to plant a kiss between his shoulder blades, Ted’s self-control finally slips and he whines pathetically into the duvet, “Ah, Barney, yes – I – “

“My God, you’re gorgeous” Barney groans against the back of his neck, “I can’t believe _what’s the difference between peanut butter and jam?_ worked on you. It’s not even supposed to be a pick-up line”  
Ted blushes furiously and rasps, “well, you told it well. And – shit, I can’t think when you – and my standards aren’t particularly high”  
“Jackass”  
Ted pushes back against Barney’s hand and smiles when he hears Barney make a surprised little sound. Bucking into the touch he grunts, “And maybe you could- you could do some jamming yourself? That’d be good”  
Barney laughs out, astonished, which makes Ted’s smile widen into a grin as he feels the sound like a sweet chill against his neck, “as you wish”  
“ _Princess Bride_? Seriously, dude, you’re actually quoting – “  
All words are lost when Barney jams his cock into him without so much as a warning, hard and uncompromising, and Ted _mewls_ and flings his head back in utter abandon. Barney’s arm wraps itself around Ted’s middle, holding him close, and the fingers on his other hand close around his hair and holds on tight, forcing Ted’s head back, barring his throat. Ted feels so vulnerable, pressed unto his stomach by a virtual stranger, a dick driving into his ass, a harsh voice, steel wound in velvet, spinning gilded palaces out of paragraphs into his ear, “fuck, Ted – babe, you’re doing good, you’re doing – ah, you’re doing so good. Next time I want you riding me, I bet you’d look so amazing on top of me, writhing on my cock, squirming and whimpering”

He sets a punishing pace and Ted cries out, voice raw with the strain. _Next time?_ He is halfway out of his mind with pleasure, and soon the burn of Barney’s entering him is replaced with nothing but bliss; Barney’s sharp moans are ringing in his ears, his nails are forming white crescent marks of perfect agony in his skin, his lips generate sparks on Ted’s shoulders. _Next time?_ Barney is finding places in him that sends him spiralling, hitting against his prostate with almost every stroke. He is touching, touching, _touching_ , and Ted is close, so close. His arousal is red-hot and ferocious in the pit of his stomach, his blood burns like ferrous liquid, and he is careening towards his finish at top-speed.    
_Wait, next time?_  
“Come for me” Barney murmurs into his hairline, words quiet and dangerous, as he takes Ted in hand and rubs him quickly. And Ted does, with a soft whine, all over the other man’s hand and the sheet. Barney kisses his damp skin, and just as Ted is about to collapse completely onto the bed, he gives one, two, three aborted thrusts and comes into the condom, his breath hot and heavy in Ted’s hair.  
It doesn’t take long for Ted to start feeling uncomfortable. Barney has gone boneless on top of him, and though he is the human equivalent of a twig, he is still heavy.  
“Get off” he slurs. Barney doesn’t react at first, and so he raises his voice a little, “Barney, come on”  
“Oh, yeah. Sorry” the blonde crawls off of him, a bit awkwardly, like his legs don’t work properly, and flops down next to Ted. He ties a knot on the condom, and asks, “bathroom?”

“Left” says Ted unhelpfully, flapping his arm in the general direction of the door. He can almost hear Barney rolling his eyes at him, but he doesn’t care. He is feeling warm and content, and the cum cooling between his cheeks has him intrigued. He carefully pokes his fingers into the crack of his ass and catches some of the white liquid on the tip of his fingers. He brings his hand to his mouth and labs hesitantly at the sticky stuff. The flavour that hits the inside of his cheek is salty, slightly tangy. Strange, but not bad, and just as Ted has made to reach for another taste, a stuttering exhale from across the room reminds him that he isn’t alone. He turns his head and sees Barney standing in the door, illuminated by the light of the livingroom, sweat shining on his beautifully pale skin. There is a wet towel in his hand. He looks at Ted like he is an odd, but lovely, thing, “what are you doing?” he asks, weakly, staring at Ted’s hand which is resting against the swell of his ass.

Ted smiles lazily, cocking his head to the side. He likes the way Barney is looking at him, and when he lowers his eyes it is to the delightful sight of Barney’s cock giving a weak twitch as it tries valiantly to get battle-ready once again. He purposefully digs his fingers back in, hissing when he accidentally brushes against his tender entrance. He licks his fingers slowly, not taking his eyes off of Barney for a second, enjoying the stunned expression on the blonde’s face.  
“Come here” he beckons, then giggles and waves his hand between him and Barney, “hah, “cum” here!”  
“You’re really weird” Barney points out. He has dimples in his cheeks, Ted notices. They show when he smiles, and make him look even more attractive.   
“And you’re really hot. Your mouth is hot” he smiles widely, “you should kiss me with it”  
Barney shakes his head like Ted is ridiculous, but gets into the bed anyway. He aligns them chest to chest, entangling their legs and wrapping his arms around Ted’s neck, and then kisses him. His lips taste sweet, his eyes are sweet. Everything about Barney is sweet.

They lie like this until the cum starts to dry and becomes itchy between their stomach. Then Barney leans back and cleans them up with the towel – first Ted, then himself. The look in his eyes turns from soft to unreadable, and it leaves Ted unsettled enough that he sits up himself, reclining against the headboard of his bed. Barney is on his knees between his legs, one hand closed in a loose fist in his lap, the other hovering indecisively over Ted’s leg, like he wants to touch him but is suddenly shy.  
Ted asks, “you okay?”  
“Yeah”  
“So… What now?”  
“I don’t know” Barney says earnestly, then smiles almost reluctantly, humour curling the edge of his lips, “I’m not used to this much talking with a one-night stand. I think you might have given me Stockholm syndrome”  
Ted laughs, and then can’t help reaching for Barney. He catches the other man by the arm and gently draws him closer. His hand is wrapped around his wrist, but his hold is loose enough that Barney has plenty of opportunity to break free if he so desires. He doesn’t, though. He lets himself be tugged into Ted’s side, the long line of his body pliant and supple, allowing Ted to bend him like he wishes to. His head drops onto Ted’s shoulder, and he sighs when Ted untangles the duvet from the end of the bed and wraps them both up in it.   
He doesn’t look at Ted when he speaks, but he finds his hand beneath the cover and entwines their fingers, and Ted figures they will be okay, “I usually leave”  
His voice is quiet, contemplative, like he wonders how it can be that he isn’t out the door already. Ted closes his eyes, hoping it will help him think. It doesn’t, and so he opens them again and presses a kiss to the top of Barney’s head. This is uncharted territory to him as well. Most of the time the people he brings home stay over, but there usually isn’t this kind of intimacy after they’re done with sex.

“Do you want to leave?” he asks, and he dislikes how helpless he sounds.  
“No” Barney answers promptly, shoulders tensing for a moment, like he is surprised by his own words. Ted kisses his temple, encouraging him, and Barney continues, “It’s late, anyway”  
Ted chuckles, and moves so he is sitting a little straighter, wincing when the soreness of his ass registers – Barney is not small, not by any means. He says, “it’s ten thirty”  
“Late” Barney repeats stubbornly.   
“Yes” Ted agrees solemnly, “it’s late. It wouldn’t be safe to walk around in the middle of night like that”  
“Agreed”, he feels Barney’s nod against his shoulder, “if I went out now and got murdered it would be on you. I’m doing you a favour”   
The smile seems permanently stuck on Ted’s face, “Oh, well, then I’m gonna have to insist that you stay. For me”  
He shuffles around until he is lying down on his back once again, carefully hauling Barney with him. Barney puts his head on Ted’s chest and Ted wraps his arm around him. His hand goes into his hair, running his fingers through it absentmindedly. They slip into silence, which is only interrupted when Ted murmurs a few minutes later, “You – “ he swallows a ball of nervous energy, “you said something about next time. There being a next time. I’d… I’d like that”  
He gets no answer, and when he looks down he finds out why. Barney has fallen asleep. His eyelashes are fluttering against his cheeks, and his lips are folded into a pout. He looks adorable, and Ted doesn’t want to wake him up, even though his head feels soft and bright with Barney’s almost-promise. Instead he kisses Barney’s forehead, closes his eyes, and allows sleep to take him. Just because there are things to say doesn’t always mean they have to be said. It can wait.


End file.
